Promise Not To Tell by Jennifer McMahon

I enoyed reading this book very much! I got hooked almost immediately because it's got so many elements I love about reading: strong, realistic characters, a bit of mystery, a bit of horror, and themes I can relate to. There are actually two stories: Kate Cypher then and now, 1971 and 2002. In 1971, she was a lonely little 10 year old, new in school and wanting to be friends with people but an outcast from the start because she was "different"--she lived on a commune with her mother and a group of hippies. On a farm nearby, there was another outcast named Del Griswold--cruelly nicknamed "The Potato Girl". I remember how it was in school to want a friend and feel so lonely about it that even being friends with the class goat was preferable to no one at all. Being connected to people your own age...that's a real need, no doubt about it. Yet, when push comes to shove, Kate can't admit that she is best friends with "The Potato Girl" and Del is brutally murdered. In 2002, Kate returns to the commune to care for her mother who seems to be suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. On the night Kate returns, another little girl is murdered in much the same way Del was. Who dunnit? Was it Kate? Or the ghost of Del? Or ... ?